Monday, May 2, 2016

Pesto Shrimp over Cheesy Polenta for Two

Pesto Shrimp over Cheesy Polenta for Two

These April showers had me
feeling chilled to the bone and quite blah the last few weeks and that meant a
craving for easy but rich and satisfying dinner. Cue a semi homemade, seasonal meal that would
really hit the spot but required about two pans and not much else, we’ve all
had those days don’t you judge me!
Trader Joe’s is really one of my favorite places because you know you
can get all natural, quality ingredients that will help you to make a really
wonderful dinner for yourself and your family inexpensively. I keep a container
of Trader Joe’s pesto in my refrigerator for so many reasons but in a pinch
like this I didn’t need to leave my house to make dinner that would normally require
real pants and possibly a reservation.

Ingredients

12 Jumbo shrimp, or 16 Extra Large shrimp (I buy peeled and deveined
for this kind of meal)

4 tbsp. Trader Joes Pesto, any jarred pesto or fresh will do

2 tbsp. toasted pine nuts (optional but super yummy)

2 tbsp. shredded parmesan cheese

1 tbsp. olive oil

Crushed red pepper (optional)

Polenta Ingredients

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup milk or cream

½ cup coarse ground cornmeal (I buy this at any store that does bulk
sales so I only buy how much I want to keep in the house, but GOYA does this as
well by the bag)

1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2 tbsp. butter (times like this fancy, expensive butter is nice
because it has a higher fat content, but normal butter works fine)

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Add chicken stock, milk or cream and corn meal into a COLD pot. Turn the stove onto medium or medium high
heat and let the mixture come to a fast simmer, almost a boil, stir often until
the mixture thickens up, remove from heat and stir in the cheese and butter,
season healthily with salt and pepper (if you have white pepper this is the
time to use it).

In a medium sauté pan add the olive oil and shrimp and cook about 3
minutes and turn over, add the pesto, (if you are adding the pine nuts add them
now along with the optional crushed red pepper) and cook 3-4 more minutes or
until the shrimp firm up and turn opaque.

Serve the shrimp over a bed of the polenta and top with the extra
pesto from the pan, and parmesan cheese.

This meal takes less than 30
minutes and can be paired with some roasted vegetables or a side salad but was
perfection on its own. If your polenta
starts to thicken too much you can add more milk or cream and butter to thin it
out.

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About Me

Welcome to Plates of Wrath! For those of you that don't know me, I am Christina Vene and I love EVERYTHING about cooking, eating, drinking and being merry! From grocery shopping, to prepping, to cooking and plating this blog will show you how to cook and eat how you WANT to. Cooking is NOT hard, cooking is relaxing and fun as long as you let it be. On top of that I will be sharing my favorite places for eating and drinking (YAS COCKTAILS) as well as sharing some general etiquette for eating and drinking. Hopefully this blog is both educational and alot of fun! Put your aprons on, and pack your rain boots because this is going to be an adventure!